Shelf

ABSTRACT

A shelf, having a primary surface ( 20 ); a wall ( 30 ) extending from the primary surface ( 20 ), the wall ( 30 ) having a right wall ( 34 ) and a left wall ( 36 ); a rear edge ( 40 ) extending from the primary surface ( 20 ); a flange ( 50 ) disposed rearwardly and immediately adjacent to the right wall ( 34 ), and the left wall ( 36 ); the flange ( 50 ) extending downwardly to extend lower than the primary surface ( 20 ); a member ( 60 ) extending away from the rear edge ( 40 ); whereby the member ( 60 ) is capable of being received by a hole, and the flange ( 50 ) is capable of supporting the shelf in place.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a shelf that can be used with pegboards.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Peg boards are used both commercially and residentially to display itemsand to hold items, such as tools. This is done, for the most part, byusing peg board hooks. The peg board is usually made of some sort ofcompressed paper or cardboard.

One type of peg board shelf can be found at www.palaydisplay.com,specifically athttp://www.palaydisplay.com/pc-13938-325-pegboard-shelf-4-w-x-9-1.aspx.This has two peg board hooks that are received by the peg board, and issupported by a flat rear edge, and has an adjacent flat surface. Thedescription states that it is acrylic.

The invention is a peg board shelf that can hold things, such aspackages, boxes, cans or bottles on its substantially flat surface, andthe load is supported by a flange that contacts the peg board shelf. Theflange is not the rear edge.

There exists a need for a peg board shelf that uses minimum peg boardspace, by having edges or sidewalls that do not have to be, for example,over 3/4 of an inch in height.

There also exists the need to manufacture a peg board shelf from onesingle piece of material. During the manufacturing process, the edges,particularly the front, do not have to be bent up, as the edges could bebent down.

Multiple embodiments of the system are disclosed herein. It will beunderstood that other objects and purposes of the invention, andvariations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the followingspecification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.

As can be seen, there is a need for peg board shelf that has a lowprofile so as to occupy less space than a larger shelf; there is alsoneed of a peg board shelf that can hold items, including boxes, cans orbottles; there is also need of a peg board shelf that can be made fromone piece of material.

REFERENCE NUMERALS LIST

-   10 peg board shelf-   20 primary surface-   30 wall-   32 front wall-   34 right wall-   36 left wall-   40 rear edge-   50 flange-   60 member-   70 shoulder-   80 arm-   90 finger-   100 shape-   200 method of making an embodiment of the present invention-   210 removing material-   220 bending the front wall, right wall, and left wall-   230 bending the rear edge-   240 bending the member rearwardly-   250 bending a portion of the arm

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A shelf, comprising: a primary surface (20); a rear edge (40) extendingfrom said primary surface (20); a flange (50) disposed rearwardly fromsaid primary surface (20), said flange (50) extending downwardly toextend lower than the primary surface (20); a member (60) extending awayfrom said rear edge (40); whereby said member (60) is capable of beingreceived by a hole, and said flange (50) is capable of supporting theshelf in place.

A method of making a shelf, comprising the steps of: removing material(210); bending said front wall (32), said right wall (34), said leftwall (36) so that each of said front wall (32), said right wall (34),and said left wall (36) are substantially perpendicular with respect tosaid primary surface (20); bending a rear edge (40) so that said rearedge (40) is substantially perpendicular with respect to said primarysurface (20); bending a member (60) rearwardly about 90° with respect tosaid rear edge (40) that forms a shoulder (70) and an arm (80); andbending a portion of the arm (80) upwardly about 70° to form a finger(90).

A further aspect is a shelf, comprising: a primary surface (20); a wall(30) extending upwardly from said primary surface (20), said wall (30)having a right wall (34) and a left wall (36); a rear edge (40)extending upwardly from said primary surface (20); a flange (50)disposed rearwardly and immediately adjacent to said right wall (34),and said left wall (36); said flange (50) extending downwardly to extendlower than the primary surface (20); a member (60) extending upwardlyaway from said rear edge (40); whereby said member (60) is capable ofbeing received by a hole, and said flange (50) is capable of supportingthe shelf in place.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdrawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a pictorial of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second pictorial of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a third pictorial of an embodiment of the present inventionused with a peg board;

FIG. 4 is a top view of an embodiment of the present invention before itis bent or moved into shape;

FIG. 5 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic of a method of making the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplatedmodes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be takenin a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustratingthe general principles of the invention, since the scope of theinvention is best defined by the appended claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates the peg board shelf 10. The peg board shelf 10 has aprimary surface 20 that is surrounded at least in part by a wall 30. Arear edge 40 may extend upwardly from the primary surface 20, wherebythe rear edge 40 and the wall 30 may form an enclosed space of theprimary surface 20. In one embodiment the rear edge 40 may extenddownwardly from the primary surface 20. In one embodiment the wall 30may comprise a front wall 32, a right wall 34 disposed rightwardly ofthe front wall 32, and the right wall 34 oriented substantiallyperpendicular with respect to the front wall 32. The wall 30 couldextend upwardly from the primary surface 20 as illustrated, or it couldextend downwardly (not illustrated).

The wall 30 may also have a left wall 36 disposed leftwardly of thefront wall 32, the left wall 36 oriented substantially perpendicularwith respect to the front wall 32. The left wall 36 may be orientedsubstantially parallel with respect to the right wall 34. The front wall32 may be oriented substantially parallel with respect to the rear edge40. The rear edge 40 may have an extension 100 that extends rightwardlyto the right wall 34, and leftwardly to the left wall 36. In oneembodiment the extension 1 00 is a tapered extension that reduces inheight as the extension 100 or tapered extension 100 extends away fromthe rear edge 40.

A flange 50 may be disposed at a rear side of the front wall 34 and theside wall 36. The flange 50 may extend inwardly from the respectiveright wall 34 and left wall 36. The flange 50 may extend downwardlybelow the primary surface 20, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The flange 50may receive a reaction force against the peg board surface. In oneembodiment, the flange 50 may extend outwardly (not illustrated).

A member 60 may extend from the rear edge 40. The member 60 may have ashoulder 70 that extends upwardly from the rear edge 40. The shoulder 70may be best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. An arm 80 may extend rearwardly fromthe shoulder 70, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5. In one embodiment ofthe present invention the arm 80 is substantially perpendicular withrespect to the shoulder 70. A finger 90 may extend substantiallyupwardly from said arm 80. In one embodiment the finger 90 is orientedat an angle of about 110° with respect to the arm 80. The member 60 maybe capable of being placed in ⅛″ or ¼″ diameter peg board holes. Aplurality of members 60 may be disposed so as to be received by apegboard with 1″ hole spacings. The members 60 may be disposed at 1″intervals, or multiples thereof, i.e. 2″, 3″, etc . . . from anothermember.

The wall 30 may extend upwardly from the primary surface 20 at varyingheights depending on the desired height of the upstanding sidewall 30.Alternatively, the wall 30 may extend downwardly.

FIG. 4 illustrates one shape 100 from which an embodiment of the presentinvention may be made. The shape 100 is shown as a flat surface thatwith material removed so that the present invention 100 may be made byforming or bending the material after it is cut.

One method 200 for making an embodiment of the present invention isillustrated in FIG. 6 from the steps of (1) removing material 210 toform a shape 100; (2) bending 220 the front wall 32, right wall 34, andleft wall 36 up about 90° with respect to the primary surface 20; (3)bending 230 the rear edge 40 up about 90° with respect with the primarysurface 20; (4) bending 240 the member 60 rearwardly about 90° withrespect to the rear edge 40, which may form the shoulder 70 and arm 80;(5) bending 250 a portion of the arm 80 upwardly about 70° to form thefinger 90.

In one embodiment, the shelf 10 is made from metal, or a metal alloy.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates toexemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the following claims.

1. A shelf, comprising: a primary surface (20); a rear edge (40)extending from said primary surface (20); a flange (50) disposedrearwardly from said primary surface (20), said flange (50) extendingdownwardly to extend lower than the primary surface (20); a member (60)extending away from said rear edge (40); whereby said member (60) iscapable of being received by a hole, and said flange (50) is capable ofsupporting the shelf in place.
 2. The shelf of claim 1, wherein saidrear edge (40) extends upwardly from said primary surface (20).
 3. Theshelf of claim 1, wherein said wall (30) extends upwardly from saidprimary surface (20).
 4. The shelf of claim 1, wherein said wall (30)extends downwardly from said primary surface (20).
 5. The shelf of claim1, wherein said rear edge (40) extends downwardly from said primarysurface (20).
 6. The shelf of claim 1, wherein: said member (60) has ashoulder (70) that extends from said rear edge (40), an arm (80) extendsrearwardly from said shoulder (70); said arm is substantiallyperpendicular with respect to said shoulder (70), and a finger (90)extending from said arm (80) and said finger (90) is oriented at anangle of about 110° with respect to said arm (80).
 7. The shelf of claim1, wherein: said wall (30) has a front wall (32) extending between saidright wall (34) and said left wall (36); and said front wall (32) issubstantially parallel with respect to said rear edge (40).
 8. The shelfof claim 1, further comprising, a wall (30) extending from said primarysurface (20), said wall (30) having a right wall (34) and a left wall(36).
 9. The shelf of claim 8, wherein said flange (50) is immediatelyadjacent to said right wall (34), and said left wall (36)
 10. A methodof making a shelf, comprising the steps of: removing material (210);bending said front wall (32), said right wall (34), said left wall (36)so that each of said front wall (32), said right wall (34), and saidleft wall (36) are substantially perpendicular with respect to saidprimary surface (20); bending a rear edge (40) so that said rear edge(40) is substantially perpendicular with respect to said primary surface(20); bending a member (60) rearwardly about 90° with respect to saidrear edge (40) that forms a shoulder (70) and an arm (80); and bending aportion of the arm (80) upwardly about 70° to form a finger (90).
 11. Ashelf, comprising: a primary surface (20); a wall (30) extendingupwardly from said primary surface (20), said wall (30) having a rightwall (34) and a left wall (36); a rear edge (40) extending upwardly fromsaid primary surface (20); a flange (50) disposed rearwardly andimmediately adjacent to said right wall (34), and said left wall (36);said flange (50) extending downwardly to extend lower than the primarysurface (20); a member (60) extending upwardly away from said rear edge(40); whereby said member (60) is capable of being received by a hole,and said flange (50) is capable of supporting the shelf in place. 12.The shelf of claim 11, wherein: said member (60) has a shoulder (70)that extends upwardly from said rear edge (40), an arm (80) extendsrearwardly from said shoulder (70); said arm is substantiallyperpendicular with respect to said shoulder (70), and a finger (90)extending from said arm (80) and said finger (90) is oriented at anangle of about 110° with respect to said arm (80).
 13. The shelf ofclaim 11, wherein: said wall (30) has a front wall (32) extendingbetween said right wall (34) and said left wall (36); and said frontwall (32) is substantially parallel with respect to said rear edge (40).14. The shelf of claim 1, wherein the shelf 10 is made from metal. 15.The shelf of claim 10, wherein the shelf 10 is made from metal.
 16. Theshelf of claim 11, wherein the shelf 10 is made from metal.
 17. Theshelf of claim 3, wherein said wall (30) extends upwardly from saidprimary surface (20) at an angle of 90° with respect to the primarysurface.
 18. The shelf of claim 4, wherein said wall (30) extendsdownwardly from said primary surface (20) at an angle of 90° withrespect to the primary surface.